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#9 Georgetown (8-0) at Temple (5-2)
Thursday, December 9, 2010 at 9:00 PM EST on ESPN2
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The ninth-ranked Georgetown Hoyas will bring its perfect 8-0 record to the City of Brotherly Love to tip off against the Temple Owls on Thursday.
The Owls are one of the Atlantic 10’s better team at the moment and should prove to be one of the Hoyas most difficult challenges of the young season with the exception of No. 8 Missouri, who battled them to a 111-102 win for Georgetown in Columbia.
Georgetown head coach John Thompson has to be happy with the way his team has performed so far, but there are still a lot of games left to play. The Hoyas are poised to make run at a National Title but they must play every game like it’s the deciding game to get there, starting with Temple on its home court.
The Hoyas will count on another solid outing from senior guard Austin Freeman who in his 4th year with Georgetown has continued to impress putting up big numbers season after season and currently leads the team with 20.1 points per game.
Freeman is an island on a squad that lost a good number of players from last year’s team including highly touted Greg Monroe. He is however supported by senior guard Chris Wright, who has continually proven that he is one of the top playmaking guards in the Big East. With Wright passing the ball and Freeman, the Hoyas should have no problems getting to the basket against the Owls.
As for Temple, they had been ranked in the Top-25 at the start of the season, but losses to California (57-50) and Texas A&M (54-51) in the Old Spice Classic toppled then from their lofty perch. They are not a team that possesses any one superstar, rather a couple of outstanding young players that get things done on the court on a regular basis.
Junior guard Ramone Moore is one of the best guards in the Atlantic 10 and is scoring 12.3 points per game and can hit the bucket from anywhere on the floor. He gets some help from teammate Juan Fernandez who is second on the team in points per game and is attempting to make a name for himself. Lavoy Allen is the inside man, dragging down nearly seven boards a game. While the Owls are just not as explosive offensively as the Hoyas are, they do posses the ability to hang with their opponents.
I expect the Owls to put forth maximum effort, jumping out to a quick lead, as the Hoyas are known for their slumbering starts. Temple will need to rely on its stifling defense, but I don’t think it will be enough to stop Georgetown, who have bevy of talent from the top to the bottom of its roster.
The odds makers have the Georgetown Hoyas as a -1.5 point favorite with an over/under of 127.5.
Free Pick: Georgetown 78, Temple 66
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